All in, and all good...

Week Summary 5/26/2013

Tuesday

Goni Hill Repeats: 8.1 mi (+1,812 ft); 11:10 pace
Thursday
Carson River Flats: 9.6 mi (+52 ft); 9:14 pace
Friday
Carson River Flats: 6.0 mi (+39 ft); 9:48 pace
Saturday
Grosh Loop: 11.9 mi (+1,803 ft); 11:05 pace
Sunday
Longview - Kings Canyon OB: 21.6 mi (+3,058 ft); 11:15 pace

Weekly Totals: 57.4 mi (+6,764 ft); 10:13:08 on trail

The routine got back in the groove this week, and I have to say the joy of long-distance running wrapped itself around me. I'd been a little worried, but this week brought it all back into focus. It's about time.

The week included some strong hill repeats on the dirt road (Goni) on the south side of McClellan Peak. I didn't mess around with turning back downhill after each five-minute interval, but focused on good walks for the brief recovery period. Then cruised the descent on some of my favorite downhills -- the tracks behind the cinder mines. It was the first time since Buffalo that my ankle didn't bark at me at any time during the run, up or down.

I missed my run on Wednesday but did some good walking out on a project near the Humboldt River. Dune hikes have to do some good. Tried to do some easy base runs along the river, but I probably ended up going a little fast. It was simply the joy of having a break in the day to get out, and that was motivation enough.

Footfeathers had mixed things up a bit, shifting the long run to Sunday and calling for a bit of hills on Saturday. I like how the "hilly" days (Tuesday, Saturday, and Sunday) this week all have about the same pace, regardless of the mileage. Nice and steady.

Lower Kings Canyon, toward Carson City

Sunday's cruise up and down Kings Canyon was fantastic, such a nice way to end a great week. I'd never been up that road, but I'm sure I'll now be hitting it pretty often. I tried to get to the Spooner Trail-head on the TRT, but didn't quite make it. My target was a 2:15 climb and that got me to 11 miles, but it seems I was about a mile short of Spooner. I starated at the Longview trail. So I knowingly added mileage that I would not have covered if I had started at the Kings Canyon "Trail-head" (end of the pavement). I would have made Spooner handily if I had started there. But worth every step.

The "halfway" valley

Climbing the eastern front; upper Kings Canyon

I got signed up for the Grand Mesa 60K outside of Grand Junction, Colorado, where I'll join Dennis and Mary for their first ultra. Made some travel arrangements for that weekend in July. I'll be using it as a high-altitude long run; all trails lead to Leadville 100, starting now. 

Darren got his house sold, and the transition continues. Ophir Trail to Mt. Rose will be at his doorstep soon. 

Keep going...